RSS warns Govt against third-party mediation

Just hours before US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage landed in India, the RSS cautioned the Centre against any US attempt to ass...

Just hours before US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage landed in India, the RSS cautioned the Centre against any US attempt to assume a mediator’s role in the Indo-Pak disputes, opposed any move to convert the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir to an international border and declared that a return of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) should be the sole issue for any bilateral dialogue with Islamabad.

RSS spokesman Ram Madhav is believed to be a part of the Parivar positioning to resist US pressure over India-Pakistan issues. The Government, by citing the RSS hard-line, could plead its inability to give any concessions to Islamabad.

Madhav said: ‘‘There is a beeline of foreign dignitaries visiting New Delhi and Islamabad…They are trying to give an impression that they are involved in efforts to resolve Indo-Pak disputes. They should be told that we go by the spirit of the Shimla Agreement and the real threat from Pakistan is to entire Asia because of its clandestine links with North Korea.’’

Ruling out any scope for a third-party intervention, he alleged that the US had perpetuated the dispute between the two countries. He said: ‘‘It has to be borne in mind that the contribution of the very same external forces is not small in perpetuating the India-Pakistan dispute in the past five decades.’’

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